


Alone Together

by hyperInactive



Series: Twinsweek 2018 [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: I love these twins, for twinsweek!, i could not pick between them lmao, i really dont know where this came from tbh so i hope it fits, i think this fits the prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 21:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13509813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyperInactive/pseuds/hyperInactive
Summary: Lup was fire. Taako was ice.  They worked in harmony, from the moment they were born, meant to be together forever.  But the world seemed to think that fire and ice shouldnt go together.  They were set to prove the world wrong.





	Alone Together

**Author's Note:**

> i dont know how well the summary fits this tbh, im not good at summaries, but i really think this turned out well. i would die for these twins and even tho im quite literally in love with lup i couldnt just pick one of them. I hope you guys like it!

Lup was fire.  She always had been.  Energetic, warm, heat blazing at her core and sparks flying from her very skin.  She had the loving heat of fire flowing through her veins, and the dangerous roaring flame held in the palm of her young hand.  She was fire, and she used it to soothe her brother’s frozen soul.  

 

Taako was ice.  He didn’t want to be.  But he was.  Empty, cold, his heart encased in a layer of frost and snow shimmering in his hair.  He didn’t control the snow the way his sister did the flame, rather he just encompassed what it was, the fluidity of water, ice, and snow, the change that it represented.  He was ice down to his core, and he only let it melt for his sister.  

 

Born under the moon, in the deep woods where elves resided, they held hands from the beginning.  Transferring love, trust, and compassion through the simple touch of their fingers.  After twenty years of refusing to leave the other’s side, twenty years of obstinate retorts leading to nights spent outside, their parents decided that they didn’t want Taako and Lup anymore.  They were too much work.  They talked back too much.  They didn’t know how to be a proper elf.  So they were sent to live with the one relative who liked them, their aunt who lived a ways away in the woods.  Far enough away from their parents that the twins could relax.  It was then that they learned to cook, able to channel the magic that flowed through their body into something that kept them alive and healthy.  Lup lit the fires, and Taako made new ingredients out of the stale food in the cupboard.  They had each other, and they were happy.  

 

But then, when they were in their sixties, they found themselves alone again, their aunts too-still body etched into their brains as they ran from the house.  They sprinted away, away from the possibility of being sent back to their parents, away from the memories that filled the empty house of their aunt.  They ran with the wind at their back, pushing them forward into an unknown future with only each other beside them.  They were alone.  But they were together.  

 

“Taako...do you think we’ll ever settle down anywhere?” Lup asked, one day in the alley of a small town.  The twins were huddled together, Lup holding a small flame to keep them warm as night fell and chilled the air.  Taako laughed, a short, almost bitter sound. 

 

“Kinda hard to settle down when we don’t even have enough money to feed ourselves.” He said.  “Maybe….maybe someday.”

 

“What if we could make money?” Lup mused.  “I mean, we cook pretty damn well if I do say so myself.  And I  _ do _ say so, because we’re fuckin’ great.”

 

A slow smile spread across Taako’s face, and it only took a week before a caravan rolled into the town looking for a chef.  The leader of the caravan laughed when Taako and Lup walked up asking about the job, and he didn’t believe that they could cook until they pestered him into testing them.  One bite, and they were hired.  They turned to each other and grinned.  Their luck was turning.  

 

Years passed, and they spent that time hopping from caravan to caravan, growing their skills and their magic and never leaving each others side.  Nights were spent meditating in turns, watching each others backs protectively.  Days were spent cooking, and sneaking moments hidden in the piles of ingredient sacks to practice magic and share gossip about the caravan members.  

 

Then they heard about the IPRE.  The Institute of Planar Research and Exploration.  Their ticket off this plane that never cared about them.  They were barely a hundred, but if they fudged a bit of their information on the forms...there was no one to contest it.  Their applications were almost embarrassingly short, or they would be if Taako and Lup weren’t so certain that their magical abilities would render that obsolete.  Sure enough, they were called in for a more comprehensive assessment, most likely so that the snobby higher ups could make sure that the poor little orphan twins weren't lying.  

 

“You ready, bro?” Lup grinned, standing outside the testing chamber.  Taako leaned on her shoulder, sparks flying from his hand.  His hat turned pink.

 

“Cha’boy’s  _ always _ ready, Lulu.  Let’s make those upper class fucks eat their words.” 

 

They entered the room, and were immediately surrounded by darkness.  Lup’s hand burst into flame, illuminating the area directly around them.  A voice boomed from above.  

 

“Welcome to the practical portion of the assessment.  First, you will be assailed by drones, to simulate the hostile environment you might encounter on other planes.  Feel free to use any skills against them, magical or physical.  The trial will end if one of you is injured, so that you might be tended to, and so your goal is to survive as long as possible.  The trial begins now.”

 

The room lit up, blinding the twins for only a second, and drones surrounded them almost instantly.  Lup grinned, winking at her brother, and launched herself forward, wreathed in fire.  Taako knelt down, transmuting the surface of the floor into smooth glass and watching as many of the drones slipped as their metal feet couldn’t get traction.  He knew that he and Lup did magic differently.  They didn’t learn from a book, like most wizards.  They learned through experimentation, which led to Taako being able to transmute materials that experienced wizards probably never would have thought of.  This meant that as the trial continued, both of them showed off magic that really should not have been possible.  

 

When the first portion of the trial ended, as Lup got grazed by one of the drone’s weapons, both of them were panting, but proud.  They knew they were good, and if those testing people didn’t see that then they weren’t worth the twins time in the first place.

 

The second portion of the trial was set in an artificial forest, and they were tasked with finding food.  Taako and Lup scoffed.  They’d been finding food on their own for decades.  The bell sounded that started the trial, and immediately Taako grabbed random berries off the trees, transmuting them upon touch to berries he knew were healthy.  Lup darted between the trees, shooting darts of fire at any animal she saw.  Sure, they were burning spell slots left and right, but it was worth it.  The trial ended within ten minutes, and the twins had piles of berries and meat, grinning smugly at each other.  The announcer’s voice even sounded a bit surprised as it spoke and told them to go through a door on the south end of the room.  

 

Through that door was a hallway leading to one exit on the other side.  

 

“That went pretty fuckin’ well.” Lup said, face deadpan.  A few seconds passed before they burst out laughing, leaning against each other and a wall for support.  

 

“Gods...Lulu!” Taako wheezed.  “Did you hear that fuckin’ voice?  We’re getting on that ship for  _ sure _ .”

 

“I don't-  _ fuck _ , I don’t think anyones cleared that one so fast!” Lup replied, her eyes watering.  “Imagine trying to do that when you actually have to care about what fruit you pick!”

 

“That’s why having the world’s best transmutation wizard comes in handy.” Taako winked and Lup flicked his ear.

“If you didn’t have the world’s best evocation wizard with you then youd’ve failed that first trial, dingus.”

 

“Yeah yeah, whatever goofus.”

 

They continued down the hallway towards the lone door, and pushed it open without hesitation.  Inside was a small-ish office, with a small figure behind the desk.  They looked like a gnome, with a ginger moustache and a sharp red suit.  The IPRE logo was on a patch on the shoulder of the suit.  Lup and Taako recognized his face as that of the captain of the mission.  He grinned at them.  

 

“Welcome!  You must be Taako and Lup….” He glanced down at the papers on his and pursed his lips.  “Sorry, my assistant must have messed up your files.  I don’t appear to have a last name for you two.”

 

“Nah, that’s right.” Taako waved it off, sitting casually in one of the two chairs in front of the desk.  Lup sat next to him.  Their hands instinctively intertwined below the desk, anchoring them both.  

 

“Oh!  Alright then.  I’m Captain Davenport, I’m in charge of the mission you two are applying for.  Now...you seem to have blown the testing out of the water.  I’ll admit, I’m impressed by your magical capabilities.  What are your backgrounds?”  He asked, leaning forward on the desk.  

 

Taako and Lup were...wary about telling Davenport their past.  Sure, the IPRE already knew they were orphans and had barely any money, but they didn’t know that they had spent the last fifty or so years on the road, with only each other to count on.  That was a little too personal to be shared.  So they wove some bullshit story, practically reading each other's minds to make it believable.  Davenport seemed convinced.  He also seemed accommodating when they refused to be admitted without the other.  Taako’s grip on Lup’s hand tightened when they said that, nervous about Davenport’s reaction, but the gnome had just smiled and assured them that their request would be taken into serious account.  The relief that traveled through their linked hands was a rush that had them both relaxing slightly.  

 

Weeks later, they got accepted with flying colors, and they celebrated by cheating unsuspecting pool players out of their drinks, shoes, and whatever else caught the twins’ eyes.  

 

Then they were in space, their plane destroyed, and running from a darkness that threatened everything they’ve built with each other.  All they could do was grip each other tightly and promise to never let go.  

 

A century later, they were ripped apart.  

 

* * *

 

Taako was a frozen soul.  His heart was protected by layers and layers of solid ice, cold that shown through in his eyes in every moment that he wasn’t on stage.  He didn’t let anyone close enough to thaw it.  Not that anyone wanted to get close to him until he was tossing food around in his stagecoach, transmuting left and right and shouting quips to the audience.  The rest of the time he was ornery, empty, and he glared daggers at anyone who tried to latch onto him.   That's just what happens when you grow up alone.  

 

When he stared at a fire, trying to get warm in the cold winters, he always felt odd.  Like there was a part of his chilled heart that longed to be warm again, that  _ craved  _ heat and hated the ice that covered it.  He hated it. 

 

He spent years pushing everyone away, especially after the fiasco that told him he couldn’t even trust his own magic anymore.  

He hated being alone, but it was the only way he knew how to live.  

 

Then, after joining an organization he didn’t believe in, with people he didn’t trust, risking his life for something he didn’t really  _ get _ , he heard a voice.  From where, he couldn’t say, but the Band Of Projected Thought was picking up something.  A woman’s voice, a familiar voice, a voice that took that small part of his heart that longed for something more and lit a flame inside it.  It  _ burned _ , with a heat that Taako felt he needed.  It almost felt familiar, and he wanted to latch onto it and never let go, not until the fire had burnt through him.  

 

But it was gone before he could latch onto it, and he was left feeling colder than he ever had.  

 

* * *

 

Lup was  _ flaming _ .  Resplendent in every sense of the word, fire streaking from her as she rose from the shattered halves of the Umbrastaff, in front of the brother she had longed to hold again.  The brother she had left behind for a decade, the brother who had shut himself off from others without her there and let himself wither.     
  


He was crying, albeit only a little, but those were definitely tears on his face.  She flew down and placed a warm hand on his cheek, and he melted into it despite her hand being intangible.  They didn’t have time to talk with the Hunger attacking, but the emotions sent through their contact was enough.  Well, just one emotion really.  The eternal, unconditional love that they held for each other.  The love that held Lup together for over thirty years, the love that made Taako stronger and let him know that it was okay to care about others.  

 

And, once the Hunger had been trapped and defeated, they returned to their instinct of never leaving each other’s sides.  

 

“So, I guess I was right.” Lup said softly, as they sat on the roof of the house they shared with Barry, Kravitz, and Angus (who also stayed with Magnus sometimes).  It had been a few days since the Day of Story and Song.  Taako looked at her, cocking his head in confusion.  

 

“Whaddaya mean?” He asked, scooting a little closer to her.  She smiled.  

 

“All those years ago, before we joined the caravans?” She prompted him, and his face cleared.  He let a soft smile spread across his face.  

 

“Aw man, I’d forgotten about that.” He said, his voice light and nostalgic.  “I guess you were.”

 

“We’ve built a good life here, Koko. Or, well, undeath in my case but you know what I mean.  We have a family, a home, and we’ve still got each other.  I...I’m happy.”

 

Taako looked out at the field next to their home, where Magnus and Angus were playing with Magnus’s new dog, and then back to where his sister sat beside him.  

 

“You know what?  I am too.”

**Author's Note:**

> so this was prety short but i love how it turned out. i hope you guys liked it too!


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